Chief
Editor of the site - Kudusov Ernst (Erik) Abduraimovich
Was born on December 30, 1934 in the family of hereditary ministers of religion (in the 15th decree). That is why both his grandfathers were subjected to repressions and were died before World War Two. He left Crimea in 1941 and spent his school years in Kazan. After finishing school in 1953 he was enrolled on a competitive basis into Moscow State University on Geographic department. He graduated from the University in 1958 specializing in “Geomorphology of Sea Shores”. During his studying at the university in 1956 he was put on a “black-list” as one of the active members of student dissident movement, aroused by famous so called “Hungarian Events”. Only due to the protection of the chair he escaped exclusion from the university. In 1957 he became an orphan when his mother died (his father died in the war). In other words, from the third year at the university he was his own master, without receiving any help from anyone. He lived for a scholarship although enlarged for good results.
Mr. Kudusov described his years after the university in his autobiographic book “Geographic Adventures”. Adile Emirova, Professor, PhD wrote the following lines after she read this book: “Undoubtedly, he is an outstanding person, a searching scientist… an energetic and brave person, an adventurer in the positive sense of this word (a man that inclined towards risky adventures). Mr. Kudusov stated himself in the annotation to his book: “I’m busy myself with the science to my own pleasure, not to honor hateful communist country”. Although, he wrote more than 50 scientific works and made several scientific discoveries and inventions, he was convicted and served his sentence in concentration camps for being a dissident.
In Siberian camp State Security Committee (KGB) decided to break Mr. Kudusov. However, it happened on the contrary. For two years of an unequal combat of Moscow intellectual against camp administration, which developed right in front of the thousands of camp convicts Mr. Kudusov spent almost half of his sentence in PKT – camp prison and in solitary confinement cell. He responded with long-term hunger-strike to the arbitrariness of camp administration, driving himself to complete exhaustion, but for all that he kept sending messages to the freedom through an illegal post. The administration went beyond all the allowed limits in its desire to break an unruly convict. Finally, even communist authorities understood that the warden allowed oneself some extras in his combat with the convict. The warden and zampolit were dismissed. The administration was renewed. And the exhausted, but the undefeated convict was transported to another camp. At partings the former zampolit Kuznetsov told Mr. Kudusov when he met him hardly moving his legs: “I thought you are a sheep, but you appeared to be a wolf in ship's clothing”.
In 1987 after Mr. Kudusov returned to Moscow, he restored his Moscow registration and experienced all the obstacles caused by the bodies of Ministry of Internal Affairs and KGB. He had to start his life from the scratch. He had neither housing, nor even any possessions, as they were confiscated by the communist authorities.
He started working as a forester in Podmoskov’e. Later on he got married. Earlier he got divorced with his previous wife, who betrayed him in hard times. With the new wife he acquired prosperity and stability.
He gave up science and thoroughly engrossed himself in politics, renewing his contacts with Crimean Tatar national movement and personally with Mustafa Jemilev, who at that time was just one of the leaders of this nation-wide movement. However, Mr. Kudusov joined very him. Mr . Kudusov, being a member of OKND, headed by Mr. Jemilev, at the same time he became one of the organizers of Confederation of Repressed Peoples and was appointed an executive secretary-coordinator of this organization. As time went by, the Confederation gained authority and its leaders were offered to work for the State Committee on Nationalities, which soon became the Ministry on Nationalities and Regional Policy. Mr. Kudusov worked there as a chief specialist.
However, ethnic issue was always an Achilles' heel for Russia, because it is impossible to exercise ethnic freedoms in the authoritarian-totalitarian state. Russia could never set out on the path of democracy, it turned back to the authoritarianism. That is why the Ministry of Nationalities was abolished. However, Mr. Kudusov left it even earlier in a pointed manner, half year before his retirement, refusing to work with the obscurant minister Mr. Egorov.
Having done with state official dependence Mr. Kudusov entirely devoted himself to public work. Together with the group of companions he organized the Friendly Association of Crimean Tatars and became its leader. At the same time he started writing, regularly publishing in the weekly newspaper “Golos Kryma”. Right for this period he published four books: “The Confrontation Goes On” in 1997, “Geographic Adventures” in 1999, “Moscow and Crimea” in 2002, “Geography of Crimea in Scientific-Popular Style” in 2004.
In the epilogue to the historical book “Moscow and Crimea” Mr. Yakovenko I.G., Professor of Moscow State University, PhD, wrote: “Erik Kudusov wrote a vivid book. It isn’t a textbook on history, nor a monographic research. Indeed, the author is a scientist (geomorphologist), a writer, a public figure, and he has no claims on observance of austere academic genres. Mr. Kudusov depicts the history of his people in a way that reveals to a man, who from the very childhood bore a burden of collective guilt and kin responsibility. He had to live with the weight of evil myths and absurd slander.
In such situation the instinct of self-preservation dictates to hide, to deny one’s people (origin, religion, class), to get dissolved among the invaders. Many did so. Those who set people against each other count right for this. The instinct of self-preservation is a great power, but luckily not a single one. There is also a men’s dignity. It doesn’t allow a person to deny one’s people, to flout the truth and coerce one’s conscience. Erik Kudusov’s book refers to scientific-publicistic works whose authors combat settled myths and misinterpretations, restore the truth, try to understand the place and role of that slandered whole, a part of which they are”.
The last book with an innocent title “Geography of Crimea” provoked an effect of stupor in the genetic opponents of Mr. Kudusov. As the author noted himself: “Our enemies neither could speak badly about my last book, nor they want to speak well of it. That is why they surround it with deathly silence. In fact, they are indignant at a mirror. They are mad with me because I suddenly slip them this mirror, that showed them their real face”. Telling about the enemies of Crimean Tatar people in this interview Mr. Kudusov meant Communist-Slaves who invaded Crimea after the deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944.
Except for publicistic and scientific work starting from 1994 Mr. Kudusov annually takes part in the work of European Congress of Nationalities, being the representative of Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People in Federal Union of Ethnic Minorities of Europe (FCEHM).
Consequently, the creation of the site is a logical extension of the of Mr. Kudusov’s public activity with modern communication facilities applied.